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Oven Crazy Friend

10-19-2011, 05:43 AM

Hi all you fellow forum junkies. I have a friend who is oven mad. All he ever speaks about is the oven he is building in his yard. I have seen the oven and it is quite impressive, even though unfinished. However, he is DRIVING ME CRAZY! He seems to love the oven more than his children. How do i make him realise that as cool as the oven really is, it is just an oven. All it can really do is cook bread, pizza, bread and pizza. PLEASE HELP!

Its kinda like a virus... once in the system it gets into you cells and replicates itself... you have been in contact with him you too could be infected as well.
Now think about it you have signed up in the forum And posted you first thread!... thats a worry

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At first I was thinking "Oh sh*t, he is talking about me". Sometime all you want to do is finish the oven (I am still not done, by the way). Evey step make you feel like it's almost done, but in reality it's not.

Mike

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Well, I have been lurking around this fantastic forum for quite some time and I am sad to say that pizza king is talking about me. He is coming around and will get the bug if he hasnít already got it. I regret not posting my build as I went but better late than never I guess. You guys are right, itís like a virus, once you start it becomes addictive, and yes I am driving my friends and wife nuts about my oven . Not true about the children though.

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And some more pic's. I have never laid a brick in my life and could not have gone this far without the people in this forum. A special thanks to Dino for his vent transition details. As you can see Dino I copied yours. Hope you donít mind . Hopefully it will vent well.

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Well, itís been about six months and I have finally lit my first fire. I can taste the pizzas already. I plan to cure the oven for seven days lighting progressively larger fires every time. I have also rendered the base and am just trying to work out a colour scheme for the base and dome. Decisions, decisions, decisions.

I have a question re insulation. I plan on using chicken wire over the fire blanket but am not sure how to attach the wire to the oven. Or do I just place it over the blanket and let the render/stucco do the rest. Any advice would be appreciated.

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Hi Mick one way ive seen done was to tie off the wire to some thin sheet metal angle
some how fixed to the oven outer floor ,the bloke had cut slits in it so it radiused
around the oven.To your mate Ovenking i spead the disease to 3 others im now on thier wifes hit list,but that always changes once i get them over for "PIZZA" the worlds only known cure for such ailments.
cheers and good luck Peter.

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Hey Mick, I drilled holes into the concrete hearth slab at regular intervals around the dome (every 150mm or so), with the holes about 20mm off the dome wall (this was covered up by the 50mm blanket), and hammered in green plastic plugs, which I then put hooked screws into and used galvanised tie wire to crisscross the blanket over the dome and tie it all down. This was also handy for attaching the chicken wire to until my perlcrete was applied.

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Dear Mick
You the same as everyone else I think hopelessly addicted and will not post a photo till after the fact! (Just in case something doesn't quite work out). I'm always amazed on how well the ovens all turn out! were basically all mug builders who have never layed a brick!
Yep you should be proud of the transition ....very neat work
Putting a layer of chook wire is not complicated.
Just put wrap a cylinder of the chook wire around the oven cutting out the entrance. Cut slits down from the top so you can bend the wire over the dome. Cut the excess off if you wish or just overlap. Twist the little bits of the chook wire from your cuts to hold it together. If you get a bit thats a bit slack put you pliers on that bit and twist the wire sideways in a few spots that will tighten it up. It doesnt have to be super tight or good looking to do the job. Same with the first coat of render just get it on there and scratch it with the end of your towel so the next coat sticks. The later coats will enable you to get rid of the lumps and bumps and the odd bit of chook wire that pokes out. If you plan to paint with one of the render type finishes remember it will need a month to wheather before you can.

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To your mate Ovenking i spead the disease to 3 others im now on thier wifes hit list,but that always changes once i get them over for "PIZZA" the worlds only known cure for such ailments.

Peter, I think Oven kingís wife has got the bug thanks to me, not him. Itís worked the other way around. He originally started this thread to make a joke of it all, oh how its back fired on him, his wife now wants an WFO and he regrets starting this thread, hence he hasnít been back, yet. One good thing came out of it, It gave me the courage to finally become a part of this forum.

You the same as everyone else I think hopelessly addicted and will not post a photo till after the fact! (Just in case something doesn't quite work out). I'm always amazed on how well the ovens all turn out! regards Dave

Dave, you are spot on. I didn't think I would get this far hence why I haven't posted anything yet.

I did my third firing today, dome temp reached about 150 C. Problem I had is that I think I did not put enough kindling on the bottom of the fire as I had a larger piece of wood on the top which started to smoulder when the kindling ran out. Who would have thought you can stuff up lighting a fire.

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Mick
Try this.... its pretty well the best way to light a fire and of course it came off the forum.
In the oven entrance lay some sticks side by side till you have a raft say 250mm x 250mm, now lay some more wood around the outside of the raft and make a log cabin structure say 180mm high. the hollow in the middle dop some balled up newspaper and really small kindling on the top. Lite it and once it gets a go on push it to the middle of the oven. I think its called the top down method.
My prefered method is to soak (just a tblsp or 2) of lighter fluid or kero into a handfull of charcoal and lay this on a piece of newspaper in the hollow. you just can miss!

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There is hope. After a few months of firing the over, you will get to wanting a door for heat retention, or tweaks for better performance. My wife thinks I'm nuts talking about rapid prototyping doors and such, optimization of the chimney dimensions, etc - oh well.

She just wants a "finished" oven. I laughed and told her that it would be spring until it is enclosed. Now lets see, 3 more flue liners, 8 bags of pearlite, LED lighting, granite counter, Someone got a good source of soapstone...........

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Dave, Iíve done a bit of research on the forum and have found the method of lighting fires you are talking about. Iíll try that method today and see how it goes. Got to be better than what Iím doing now. Iíve also seen a clip on you tube.

C5dad, I know what you mean. You think you have finished the oven when youíve got that key stone in but then you realise your only half way. Iím also thinking of a granite counter. Going to try and get a quote today and get it in before I render the dome, hopefully in the next couple of weeks. I think every bloke on this forum has there wife on their back just wanting then to finish the oven. I think mine has given up and has realised that she just canít rush me. Good things take time.